“Let me make this quite plain, Twever. I am not going to nibble your sausage.”

Twever looked crestfallen for a moment before perking up again. “Natti-boy?”

“Don’t call me Natti-boy, Twever,” warned Nathanial West.

“…do you want a nibble of my sausage?”

“Go on, then.”

Twever pierced a sausage with a long thin stick. Removing it from the frying pan, which was sitting on the smouldering embers of the campfire, he handed it over to Nathanial. “Wrap your mouth around that.”

Nathanial took hold of the stick and bit into the hot sausage.

“Good?”

Nathanial nodded and smiled.

“See, Jennifer? Natti-boy likes nibbling on my sausage,” grinned Twever, ignoring the dirty looks from both of his companions.

“Ardo!” called Twever as he pierced another sausage with a fresh stick and flicked it over his shoulder, high in the air.

There was a deep low growl, a sense of movement, and then the sausage vanished in mid-air.

“What does he look like, Twever?” asked Jennifer as Nathanial reached forward and speared another sausage from the pan.

Twever looked first at the frying pan, which now only contained two cooked sausages, then at Nathanial, then back at the frying pan before finally fixing Nathanial with a glacial stare. “Keep your hands off my sausages.”

Nathanial blew on the sausage before deliberately and slowly taking a bite. Twever narrowed his eyes.

“Twever,” said Jennifer.

Twever keep his eyes on the traitorous Nathanial.

“Twever,” repeated Jennifer.

“What!”

“I said, what does Ardo look like?”

“Well, he looks like…” Twever turned his head to stare at a spot about six feet away and shrugged his shoulders. “He looks like….an Ardo.”

“Twever, what does that mean?”

“It means that he looks like an Ardo.”

“You are a most annoying creature,” declared Jennifer.

“Whatever you say, Sexy.”

“You are also completely intolerable.”

“You know, the angrier you get, the sexier you become, you sexy minx.”

Jennifer gave a snort of disgust and stood up. “I’m going for a walk.”

“Be careful. It’s getting dark,” said Nathanial.

“Do you really think there is anything out there that can hurt me?” spat out Jennifer.

Nathanial turned his head to look at Jennifer. “Then why did you bring us with you?”

“To do the dog work.”

“As always,” he replied before returning his gaze to the fire.

Jennifer looked as if she was about to say something before turning and walking away.

“I think you have upset her,” said Twever.

“Me? What about you?”

“We were just having a friendly banter,” Twever removed an onion from a bag along with a small knife and started to peel it, “when you gave her that really annoying mocking smile of yours.”

Nathanial smiled at Twever.

“Yes, that one.” Pulling out a wooden plate, Twever started to slice and dice the onion. “No one knows who you are mocking – yourself, the world, or them. It’s really annoying.”

“Yes, I know.”

Twever added the onion to the pan with a sharp sizzle and gave the pan a couple of shakes. “She is worried.”

“Yes, I know.”

Twever looked round until he spotted his backpack. Reaching out, he pulled it towards him. Opening the pack, he rummaged inside before retrieving a bottle of brandy and poured a generous splash into the pan. Twever then took a generous swig from the bottle before leaning over and passing it to Nathanial.

Nathanial rubbed the top of the bottle with his hand before taking a gulp. Settling down, he watched Twever continue his cooking.

“That’s one thing I always admire about you, Nathanial; your witty and intelligent conversation,” said Twever as he stirred the pan while adding a pinch of herbs and spices from another small bag at his side.

“Twever.”

“Mmm.”

“I can’t help but wonder – where did you get the backpack from?”

“From this bloke.”

“What bloke?”

“This bloke I met about an hour before we all met up.”

“Did he not mind you taking his pack?”

“Nope. He was dead.”

“He was dead.”

“Yup.”

“How?”

“Suicide.”

“Suicide?”

“He was carrying sausages plus a leg of deer and Ardo was nearby, which is pretty suicidal.”

“Oh.”

The delicious aroma from the cooking reached Nathanial. “You should have been a chef, Twever.”

“I was before I became…what I am,” replied Twever as he stirred and shook the pan, “hence why I added a splash of brandy to the pan. It picks up all the flavours from the pan and creates a wonderful and tasty light gravy.”

Twever reached into the backpack and took out a wooden bowl into which he poured the sausages, fried onions, and reduced gravy. He then placed a spoon in the bowl and silently handed the meal to Jennifer.

Jennifer reluctantly reached out and took the offering. “Smells nice.”

Twever smiled and removed a small loaf of bread from the pack. Breaking lumps off it, he wiped the frying pan, mopping up the remaining gravy.

Jennifer made a small noise of pleasure as she tucked into her evening meal.

“See, Natti-boy,” said Twever, “I can always satisfy a woman with my sausage.”

I have been asked by a number of people – “Alan, why on earth did you call your Sci –fi book ‘The Y Front Chronicles’?

The answer to that is rather complicated and mildly interesting! Below is the short easy version…though still mildly interesting!

‘Y Fronts’ came about because of the webpage – Readwave.com. My short stories were getting good reviews and had just become a Star Reviewer on Readwave, so I wanted to write some quick and easy that could be made up of instatements.

The idea of writing in a diary format sprang to mind, quickly followed by the idea of setting it in the year 3256. But whose diary would I be writing? Immediately the world ‘Killer’ entered my mind.

So, next I had to work out the actual story.

The story of ‘Y Fronts’ is about a man who is lost, lonely and feels out of place within his new environment. Having served in the RAF for 12 years (as a caterer), it was a feelings I could strong relate to. The military has its own language, rules and ways of doing things and you know where you fit in.

When I left and went to work for the Council, it was a huge shock to the system and I found it very difficult to fit in. They worked differently, they talked differently, they could not relate to my past experiences and I could not relate to theirs.

It took me almost a year, to learn to be a Civilian again, and talking to fellow ex-military colleagues and friends, I discovered that they too found it very difficult to adjust to the “Real World” that lay outside the camp gates. I wanted to get this feeling of being out of touch with the “Real World” in my character.

I also wanted the Diary to be written by a military man with an average educational background. I wanted the reader to feel that they were actually reading a ‘Real’ Diary not a beautifully formatted perfectly flowing and well penned diary of a person with an honours degree in English.

The next problem was to make the journal seem real, I did this by putting in daft little bits about day to day life, and one of the daft little bits I put in was that he needed to get some new underwear as his old ones had holes in them.

For some unknown reason, the women who read this on Redwave loved the fact that he was search for the perfect pair of underwear, and it became a running theme that ends with the jet black and gold Y Fronts.

Anyway, I needed a name for the book. I came up with a number or names – “The Space Killer Diary” and “The Chronicles of a Mass Killer” are two, I will actually admit too, the rest were even worse.

I was staring at a blank page when the words “The Y Front Chronicles” slowly took form in front of my eyes. That was it, that was my title. So that is why the book is called what it is – Because of a slightly warped sense of humour and staring at a blank screen for 30 minutes.

I use songs a lot when writing, to get in the right frame of mind or mood. Hence, over time I’ve create a sound track to my stories and the characters in them. The following is the list of songs I have used and how they relate to my novels / Characters.

Characters

Nathanial’s theme – Behind blue Eyes by The Who

Nathanial and Elizabeth’s theme – Beauty and the Beast by Stevie Nicks

Nathanial and Alexandra’s theme – Got you (Where I want you) by The Flys

I received a very nice comment on Readwave.com for my poem “A Simple Man”

“Nicely crafted application for the job of soulmate. The images evoked carry the reader from superficial attraction to unending love, ready, willing, and able to stay the distance. It might fill the dreams of every girl, but it will fill the dreams of the right one. Hats off to you. Thank you for sharing.”

If you fancy reading any of my short stories (there are quite a wide variety) then click on the link:

‘The Y Front Chronicles’ is set in the year 3256, and is the diary of a born killer, hiding on-board a cruising Star Ship, deep in space.

The diary details his nine month stay on the Star Ship, his thoughts on his past, present and future, his lovers, his hamster, daytime TV, the adult film industry, and his constant search for a pair of comfortable underwear.

This darkly humoured book is dedicated to all the people who have felt far from home, lonely, out of place, without purpose and out time.

Solomon Pace is one of my all time favourite villains, and after reading the full trilogy and ‘Tales of Solomon Pace’. I thought I knew the character very well. However, Alan then writes three short stories, which lets me see a totally different side of the character and revels more of Solomon’s past.

All the stories are well written and enjoyable. For me, the stand out story has to be ‘Rain Down’ it is simply superb and the twist at the end is brilliant.

When people ask why do I read ‘Alan Scott’ novels? The answer to that is very simple – He writes excellent, well rounded and believable characters, that draw me in and keep me engaged throughout his stories and tales.

If you like dark fantasy, then read this book, you will not be disappointed.